The book Bound Feet and Western Dress: A Memoir written by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang talks about her life being born in the middle of the traditional but changing Chinese culture. “I was born into changing times and had two faces, one that heard talk of the old and the other that listened for talk of the new, the part of me that stayed in the East and the other in the West, the spirit in me that was woman and the other that was man”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 14) There is a conflict between Chinese traditions and the modern changes. In traditional China woman are usually seen as property to their husband, they must listen to his demands. Change Yu-I understood what her father wanted for her but had a hard time with some of the other things such as bound feet and not being able to get an education. She wanted to have parts of traditional China era in her life as well as parts of the modern era. Most of the Chinese were not big fans of being westernized especially because they feel like they are doing everything correctly. Throughout the book she discusses the struggle of trying to include both things into her life and how she ended up coping with everything. Another struggle for Yu-I is that she does not fully fit it in the East or the West.
In the book, Yu-I said “In China a woman is nothing, when she is born she must obey her father. When she is married, she must obey her husband. And when she is widowed, she must obey her son. A woman is nothing” (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 6) Woman in China are typically not given the recognition that they receive instead they are often downplayed in Chinese culture. For example, in the Chang family when a son is born they keep their umbilical cords but when a daughter is born they bury them outside. “But I did learn simple things like how we had to obey the Three Bonds of Subordination: man to ruler, son to father and woman to man”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 49) Women are also just looked at as a guest in their house because they are seen to be no use since they will eventually be the property of her husband and his family. Their main purpose in life and of marriage for a woman is to be a child-bearer and they still hope that they give birth to a boy. “The purpose of a girl’s life is to marry. You must remain at home and prepare yourself for your destiny”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 72) Girls were even sold at a young age to a family in order to raise them until her and the son were old enough to get married. “This was how families who could not afford bride money for a son ensured that he would marry an obedient daughter-in-law to produce sons and to continue the families name”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 26)
Pang-mei, Yu-I’s great- granddaughter, wasn’t always the proudest of her Chinese background, she often had people refer her as Natasha because it was easier to pronounce. She believed herself as American just like her friends were and often watched American shows such as “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge family” (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 16) just like other American families did. “I did not want to be Chinese either” (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 17) People often teased her by calling her Chink and saying Chinaman Ching Chang Chong. That made her feel like she was different than the others “On these afternoons, when I was reminded that I wore my difference on my face, I would hide inside of my house…” (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 17)
Western society was much different than Chinese society in many ways. One specific thing that is different is that much more is expected for kids in China then they are for kids in the West. “You children in the West play until you are five or six. But my brothers began with tutors at age four or so, and from this early age they were expected to comport themselves as scholars. They could not play with toys, arrows or soldiers, and were not supposed to mix with certain people.” (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 47) Another thing that is different in the West is that woman are allowed to have an education meanwhile the woman in China don’t even know how to write in classical Chinese. If a girl did go to get her education, teachers were usually light on them because they would only be there until it was time to get ready for marriage. But that is not what Pang-Mei wanted at all, she wanted a challenge which is what her teachers gave her for a while. “Maybe the teachers thought they were old-fashioned and unable to learn”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 60) But, after she came back again they started to treat her like they did the rest of the girls.
Another thing that is different between the two cultures and their traditions is the rules of marriage. In traditional China, your family picked who you were marrying and they knew at a young age such as two years old. “I always thought of my parents as very modern. Their friends were non-Chinese. They spoke perfect English. But the message when I was growing up was that I should try to marry a Chinese person”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 64) This is a perfect example of Change Yu-I being in the middle of the traditional and modern China. They still want her to marry a Chinese man but they did not pick specifically who you have to marry. The Westerns are able to choose whoever they would like to marry. The guy that she ended up getting married to, Chang Chia-ao, was a lot less modernized than Peng because he married her because his father told him to. When it comes to the actual wedding in the West the couple is usually the one’s being honored but at a traditional Chinese wedding it is the guests that are being honored. One thing that they do is “This is a very old-fashioned custom: the bride sits in the middle of the room and people say mean things to her to test what kind of temper she has”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 80) She also was often considered different in China because of her feet not being lotus petals. It was a tradition in China to have bound feet in order for them to be very small and in the shape of a crescent moon. “Every little girl wants to have her feet bonded” pg. 21, except for her because of the amount of pain it caused. Although she sometimes felt ashamed of her background, “At the same time I could not be with my Western friends and walk past a group of Chinese without wondering what they thought of me”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 111)
After she gave her husband Hsu-Chih-Mo a baby he was not home a lot but the servants were there to help if he was crying or anything. He ended up asking her for a divorce which, her brother was surprised that he would shame his family like that and told her to come to him that he will adopt the baby. But, things changed before she even got there. Her brother decided that he could no longer handle it so he got in touch with someone to take care of her because she needs a female to do so. She was the first person to have a westernized divorce at the age of 22. She moved back to China after he second son’s death and became the successful woman that she always desired to be. “I do not know why I did nothing except wait for Hsu-Chih-Mo. It did not even occur to me that I could have been independent”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 105) This is different than traditional Chinese culture because usually a woman needs a male figure in her life. Females are not allowed to be independent so this is where the modernization is starting to be shown. “My entire life, I have worried about fulfilling my duty. Even after the divorce I took care of Hsu-Chih-Mo’s parents because I thought it was my responsibility to do so. I did what I thought was right for Hsu-Chih-Mo, his family and son”. (Bound Feet and Western Dress, Pg. 200) Even when she was no longer with him she felt like she still needed to take care of them because that is how she was brought up. It is common to still be in touch and friendly with your ex-husband and his family. Eventually after a while she remarried but made sure to stay in her traditions to ask her brothers and son if it was okay to remarry him.
A main reason why Chang Yu-I tried to accept Western culture and became a more independent woman could be that in the past woman were ignored. She began going to school to become a teacher but ended up working in a bank where should became very successful. She became a successful modernized Chinese lady but at the same time had ties to the old tradition Chinese lady she was growing up. Although Yu-I struggled to find her identity she ended up finding it at the end of the story. She went from being a nobody in her family to be a pretty known woman. She had to fight for what she wanted but it is important to do so if you want what is right for you. She has finally achieved the independence she has always wanted and has met a lot of people throughout her journey that definitely kept her going even if she doesn’t know that they helped. One of the first steps she took was not having bound feet which was so small but it grew into something much larger. Chang Yu-I definitely worked hard for her happiness in life and for that she deserved her status at the end of her life. I think that this is a good book to read because it shows that you do not need someone in order to be happy and that you can get through obstacles as long as you try hard.